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Created by exhaustive research and extensive experimentation, Thaumaturgy utilises the principles of Hermetic magic used by House Tremere when it was still a cabal of mages, adapted to be fuelled by the inherent magical power of Vitae rather than Quintessence. While it is certainly powerful and versatile, it is organised very differently to the Spheres; Thaumaturgy is largely unknown to mages, and universally distrusted and reviled by those who have encountered it.

Thaumaturgy uses a system of paths and rituals to focus the thaumaturge's will. Paths are learned expressions of thaumaturgical principles developed into reliable, repeatable effects. Unlike the "natural" powers of Disciplines, however, thaumaturges must concentrate their will, forcing the power of their blood to unnatural ends. If their concentration is not complete, if they falter, then the magic will fail, and in extreme cases such failure can have a lasting effect on the thaumaturge, draining their mental resources. It was not always so, however; before the Final Nights, paths were less difficult to use and did not carry the possibility of harm to the thaumaturge.

Rituals, by contrast, are elaborate, sophisticated and codified instructions for producing set magical effects. Rituals vary in complexity, and require varying levels of thaumaturgical knowledge to complete successfully. They often require the trappings of Hermetic magic – circles drawn in chalk, locks of the victim's hair, meditation, chanting ancient words of power and the like. Rituals can take hours, days or even months to perform, but if successfully completed will always produce the same result. They can be incredibly powerful, particularly when senior thaumaturges join forces; it was a thaumaturgical ritual which cursed the entire Assamiteclan.

Among the Camarilla, all practitioners of blood magic are sometimes lumped together as a generic "thaumaturgists".[1] While other traditions chafe at this misnomer, it shows the long-lasting effect of the Tremere on blood magic in general, since they have worked hard to incorporate most forms of pre-existing blood magic into their hermetic system.

Adept thaumaturges have sometimes been diagnosed with Thaumaturgical Glossolalia, a mental derangement that stems from over-expenditure and heavy reliance on Thaumaturgy. Afflicted persons under stress speak only in thaumaturgical symbology, but often the mind of the individual seems to shift into a different state of thought – almost like magical aphasia. The afflicted rarely has any idea they are doing anything unusual, and sometimes becoming unable to translate more mundane language.[2]

Thaumaturgy has a large number of paths; though it is not the oldest tradition of blood magic, the Tremere were magical scholars long before they were vampires and toil ceaselessly to push their studies ever further. Many paths were once known by names which reflected the Tremere's previous magical heritage.

Enchanted Slumber: Force a target to sleep until a trigger event. Spend Willpower to affect vampires. Multiple successes extend sleep up to a year.

Dreamscape: The vampire may project her own image into a dream, but has no control over the dream other than by her own actions within it. The vampire must have a belonging of the victim to use this power.

Master of Dreams: The vampire may start changing the target’s dreams, once she has entered them by using Dreamscape. If the target is a vampire, a willpower point must also be spent. Once this power has been used, the target may also change her dreams with resistance rolls, and both characters may act in the dream as if they were awake. If either character dies in this dream, the character also dies for real.

This path, known as Rego Ignem in the Dark Ages, creates unnatural flames, which some believe are conjured from Hell Rather than distinct powers, each level of mastery allows the practitioner to summon larger and more dangerous flames.[11]

This path grants the practitioner the power of telekinesis, allowing them to move matter at a distance, at first as though they were using their hands, and at higher levels allowing flight and levitation. It was known in the Dark Ages as Rego Motus. Modern versions of the path do not have distinct powers; instead higher levels of mastery simply increase the mass a thaumaturge can affect, though level three is required for flight, and level four for throwing objects. Older versions have the following more strictly defined powers.[14]

Force Bolt: Cause a target to fall down losing his next action or can shunt a object of 100lb or less toward or away.

Manipulate: Allows you to lift and handle a object that you would with one hand. TV remote, Hand Gun, a Lever et al.

Flight: Allows the caster the ability to hoist a person or the caster into the air and can move them at walking speed.

Repulse: As with force bolt but objects with much more weight and more than one.

Control: Force a target's body to move as you desire or you can heft up to a single ton.

The practitioner can create objects (or even living things) from nothing. Such objects are generic, with repeated patterns or a uniform appearance, and have no flaws. Unless a caster is sufficiently skilled, conjured objects cease to exist without continued concentration.[19]

This path is the pagan version of the infernal Rego Manes. It does not have individual powers at each level. Instead, each level allows to summon stronger nature spirits and to inflict more damage upon any spirit.[33]